NICL scam - Ministry concealed facts: Niazi
Accuses commerce secretary and NAB officials of collusion, says SC kept in dark.
LAHORE:
The commerce ministry has concealed facts from the three-member bench of the Supreme Court relating to five transactions in which he is being prosecuted, former chairman of the National Insurance Company (NICL) Ayaz Khan Niazi said on Saturday.
In an interview with The Express Tribune, Niazi said that the secretary commerce and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) have concealed facts.
The first case is about the purchase of 27,000 square feet of commercial space in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in 2009 for $20 million dollars or Rs1.69 billion.
He said that the space was purchased with funds lying in escrow in foreign accounts since 1996 on which NICL was getting 0.2 per cent annual interest. He said that the rent on this space is between 300 and 350 UAE dirhams per square foot, equalling an interest rate of 10 per cent or more, and would have paid itself off in eight years.
Niazi said that the commercial space was valued by two DIFC-affiliated firms at 2,800 and 2,850 dirhams per square foot. A globally reputed evaluation firm Hamptons assessed the space at 2,900 dirhams. Colliers International, ranked first by the World Bank, assessed the space at the request of the ministry of commerce and valued it at 3,000.
Giving details of another case alleging that a tender for Rs27 million was awarded to M/s Casabella for painting six floors of the NICL headquarters in Karachi. It was alleged that four floors had been painted and the remaining amount was misappropriated.
Niazi said the contract was in fact for interior decoration. He also said that architect Nayyar Ali Dada, examined the work and submitted his report to the FIA saying, “The work done and price quoted by M/s Casabella is generally comparable to market price and (the) standard (of quality of work) is reasonable.”
The third case alleges that the purchase of 10 acres of land in Korangi at Rs900 million per acre was above market rate. Niazi says the Board of Revenue Sindh valued the same land at Rs950 million per acre and the evaluator hired by the NICL valued the same property at Rs975 million. The evaluator hired by the ministry of commerce assessed the property at Rs975 million per acre.
The fourth case relates to 20 kanals and 2 marla of land near the Lahore airport, which was purchased by NICL from Mohsin Habib Warraich, son of former state minister for defence, for Rs1.65 billion. Acording to Niazi, official surveyors valued the property at Rs 1.15 billion to 1.26 billion.
The fifth case is about 803 kanals and 19 marlas of land in Lahore purchased for Rs1.68 billion from Privilege Farms (Pvt) Limited, run by Mohsin Habib Warraich. The NICL cancelled this deal on June 7 and the company’s management was informed of this on June 12.
He expressed surprise that the three-member bench of the apex court took suo motu action of this deal which had already been cancelled.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 26th, 2010.
The commerce ministry has concealed facts from the three-member bench of the Supreme Court relating to five transactions in which he is being prosecuted, former chairman of the National Insurance Company (NICL) Ayaz Khan Niazi said on Saturday.
In an interview with The Express Tribune, Niazi said that the secretary commerce and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) have concealed facts.
The first case is about the purchase of 27,000 square feet of commercial space in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in 2009 for $20 million dollars or Rs1.69 billion.
He said that the space was purchased with funds lying in escrow in foreign accounts since 1996 on which NICL was getting 0.2 per cent annual interest. He said that the rent on this space is between 300 and 350 UAE dirhams per square foot, equalling an interest rate of 10 per cent or more, and would have paid itself off in eight years.
Niazi said that the commercial space was valued by two DIFC-affiliated firms at 2,800 and 2,850 dirhams per square foot. A globally reputed evaluation firm Hamptons assessed the space at 2,900 dirhams. Colliers International, ranked first by the World Bank, assessed the space at the request of the ministry of commerce and valued it at 3,000.
Giving details of another case alleging that a tender for Rs27 million was awarded to M/s Casabella for painting six floors of the NICL headquarters in Karachi. It was alleged that four floors had been painted and the remaining amount was misappropriated.
Niazi said the contract was in fact for interior decoration. He also said that architect Nayyar Ali Dada, examined the work and submitted his report to the FIA saying, “The work done and price quoted by M/s Casabella is generally comparable to market price and (the) standard (of quality of work) is reasonable.”
The third case alleges that the purchase of 10 acres of land in Korangi at Rs900 million per acre was above market rate. Niazi says the Board of Revenue Sindh valued the same land at Rs950 million per acre and the evaluator hired by the NICL valued the same property at Rs975 million. The evaluator hired by the ministry of commerce assessed the property at Rs975 million per acre.
The fourth case relates to 20 kanals and 2 marla of land near the Lahore airport, which was purchased by NICL from Mohsin Habib Warraich, son of former state minister for defence, for Rs1.65 billion. Acording to Niazi, official surveyors valued the property at Rs 1.15 billion to 1.26 billion.
The fifth case is about 803 kanals and 19 marlas of land in Lahore purchased for Rs1.68 billion from Privilege Farms (Pvt) Limited, run by Mohsin Habib Warraich. The NICL cancelled this deal on June 7 and the company’s management was informed of this on June 12.
He expressed surprise that the three-member bench of the apex court took suo motu action of this deal which had already been cancelled.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 26th, 2010.